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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church stories: 26 news summaries

1 - 20 of 26 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 Catholic Church Welcomes 
 Disgruntled Anglicans 

Extends a hand to those unhappy with gay bishops, ordained women

Oct 20, 09 8:42 AM CDT
(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, responding to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the ordination of women and the election of openly gay bishops. The new provision will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining... More »

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gay rights • Pope Benedict XVI • gay marriage • Catholic Church • Anglican Church • interfaith dialogue • orthodoxy • Roman Catholic Church

 Pope Canonizes Father Damien 

Belgian missionary, four others elevated to sainthood

Oct 11, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Father Damien, the Belgian missionary who ministered to leprosy victims on the Hawaiian island of Molokai before contracting and dying of the disease, was canonized today. The 19th-century priest, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and three others were elevated to sainthood in a ceremony that drew... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • religion • saint • Hawaii • missionary • sainthood • Roman Catholic Church • leprosy • Father Damien • canonization • Molokai • Hansen's disease

Flu-Fearing Churches Ban Peace Handshakes

'Sign of peace,' prayer hand holding barred amid swine flu warnings

Sep 8, 09 2:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Churches nationwide are bracing for cases of swine flu, with one in Cincinnati banning peace handshakes during Mass, the Enquirer reports. The Catholic church passed out a flier telling parishioners not to shake with their neighbors during the “sign of peace” or clasp hands during the “Our Father”... More »

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Catholic Church • Catholicism • Cincinnati • Roman Catholic Church • swine flu • H1N1 virus • handshake

(Newser) - Italy has legalized the abortion drug RU-486, drawing the ire of the Vatican, which threatened to excommunicate doctors who prescribe the medication and women who take it. A church official said using the pill is "a sin in a moral and juridical sense," but a politician who is... More »

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abortion • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • Italy • Vatican • morning after pill • mifepristone • abortion pill • Roman Catholic Church • abortion pills • RU-486

OPINION

 Vatican 
 Warms 
 to Wilde 

Paper praises writer's 'lucid' analysis of his world

Jul 17, 09 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Vatican long regarded Oscar Wilde as a “dissolute homosexual,” but things have changed, writes Richard Owen in the Times of London. A review in the Vatican newspaper of a study on the Irish writer celebrates him as “one of the personalities of the 19th century who... More »

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England • religion • Vatican • literature • history • Catholicism • Britain • Roman Catholic Church • playwright • Oscar Wilde • drama • L'Osservatore Romano

(Newser) - In scarcely more than a month, Alberto Cutié has gone from celebrity priest to sex scandal poster boy to Episcopalian—now he can add boring old married guy to his resume, reports the AP. The Miami priest who left the Catholic Church amid a racy photo scandal married his secret... More »

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Episcopal Church • marriage • Catholicism • priest • Roman Catholic Church • Alberto Cutié • celibacy • Ruhama Buni Canellis

'Father Oprah,' Fiancée Set Wedding Date

Former Catholic cleric plans Episcopalian nuptials

Jun 12, 09 3:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - The onetime Catholic priest whose cavorting with his then-girlfriend led to his departure from the church is headed for the altar—as the groom. The Rev. Alberto Cutié, aka the "kissing priest," and his girlfriend of 2 years plan to wed this month in the Episcopal church,... More »

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Catholic Church • Episcopal Church • Miami • God • Episcopalian • scandal • Roman Catholic Church • Catholic priest • Alberto Cutié • celibacy • Ruhama Buni Canellis

 Kissing Fla. Priest Joins 
 Episcopal Church 

He's expected to marry girlfriend and keep preaching

May 28, 09 3:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Miami priest who sparked a debate on celibacy earlier this month when he was caught kissing and embracing a woman has left the Roman Catholic church to join the more liberal Episcopalians. The latter doesn’t require chastity for priests, and Alberto Cutié is expected to announce that he’... More »

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Episcopal Church • Roman Catholic Church • Catholic priest • Alberto Cutié • celibacy

ANALYSIS

Bishops Scorn Obama, but Pope Is a Fan

The Vatican takes
softer stance on
Notre Dame debate

May 16, 09 3:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - While conservative Catholics rage over President Obama's upcoming commencement speech at Notre Dame, one man has remained silent: the Holy Father. Indeed, American Catholic leaders and the Pope have staked out dramatically different positions from the Obama administration's, Amy Sullivan observes in Time. Yet the Vatican’s response to the... More »

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Barack Obama • abortion • Pope Benedict XVI • Vatican • Notre Dame • bishop • Roman Catholic Church

 Miami Priest 
 Admits 2-Year Affair 

Photo scandal may lead him to marry woman he says he loves

May 12, 09 6:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - The celebrity priest whose racy photos sparked a Catholic scandal broke his silence yesterday on The Early Show, admitting he’s in a 2-year sexual relationship with the woman in the pictures. Father Alberto Cutié said he’s in love with her and has never had sex with anyone else... More »

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sex scandal • priest • Catholic • Roman Catholic Church • Catholic priest • Alberto Cutié • celibacy

(AP) - The top religious adviser to Jordan's king thanked Pope Benedict XVI today for his expression of "regret" after a 2006 speech that many Muslims deemed insulting to Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Benedict told the audience of religious leaders and officials at an Amman mosque that the history of the two... More »

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Islam • Jordan • Pope Benedict XVI • Vatican • Mideast • Roman Catholic Church

(Newser) - A scandal involving a hunky and popular Catholic priest caught cavorting on a Florida beach with an attractive woman is renewing a debate over celibacy and the priesthood, the Miami Herald reports. After the Rev. Alberto Cutié—no sniggering, it's pronounced koo-tee-AY—was photographed kissing and fondling a woman,... More »

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sex scandal • priest • Catholic • Roman Catholic Church • Catholic priest • Alberto Cutié

Don't Blame Nuns for Your Bad Sex Life:
Catholic Honcho

Cosmo editor struggles 'to undo damage'

Apr 26, 09 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Are Catholic nuns responsible for repressed and sexually frustrated American women? That's absolute nunsense, fumes a conservative Catholic leader after a former sex-columnist-turned-deputy-editor at Cosmo blamed uptight teaching by nuns for women's sexual hangups. "It's not easy to undo damage caused by years of exposure to Catholic-school nuns,"... More »

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Catholic Church • sex • nuns • sex education • Catholic • repression • Roman Catholic Church • Catholic Action League • Cosmopolitan • Willam Donahue

(Newser) - The UK's most prestigious medical journal has joined the condemnation of Pope Benedict’s comments on contraception, the Financial Times reports. “By saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue," says an... More »

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Africa • contraception • Pope Benedict XVI • Vatican • editorial • The Lancet • HIV/AIDS • Roman Catholic Church • condoms • Howard Stern Grid

(AP) - The Roman Catholic bishop whose diocese includes the University of Notre Dame says he will boycott President Obama's May 17 commencement speech at the school because of Obama's support for abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research. John D'Arcy said today that Obama's recent decision to fund embryonic stem-cell research brought... More »

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abortion • stem cells • Vatican • Notre Dame • archdiocese • bishop • commencement speech • Roman Catholic Church • President Obama

(Newser) - The Vatican is in a tizzy over President Obama’s decision to lift the federal ban on embryonic stem-cell research, the AP reports. A top official called it a “victory of politics over ethics” and said that “probably some drug companies, or some economic interests” influenced the move.... More »

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stem cell research • Pope Benedict XVI • Vatican • human embryos • Roman Catholic Church • US Conference of Catholic Bishops • President Obama • sanctity • Bill Maher Grid

The Church Wants U
2 Give Up Txting 4 Lent

Benedict thinks technology is ruining young lives

Mar 3, 09 1:13 PM CST
(Newser) - If you’re still deciding what to give up for Lent, the Catholic Church has a suggestion: How about Facebook? A handful of Italian dioceses have begun a "stop texting" campaign, the Times reports, urging young people to give up text messaging, Facebook, video games, and other such... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • text message • Congo • Roman Catholic Church

Jews Rip Pope for Reinstating Holocaust Denier

Pope's reinstatement of controversial leader threatens Jewish-Catholic relations

Jan 25, 09 5:16 AM CST
(Newser) - Jews across the globe are reacting with fury to Pope Benedict XVI's reinstatement of an excommunicated bishop who denies the Holocaust, the Guardian reports. Former British bishop Richard Williamson, excommunicated in 1988 for his membership in an extremist Catholic sect and defiance of church authority, claims that no Jews died... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • Holocaust • Jews • Vatican • anti-Semitism • Roman Catholic Church • Richard Williamson

OBITUARY

Head of Russian Orthodox Church Dead

Patriarch Alexiy unified denomination, was suspected of KGB ties

Dec 5, 08 12:24 PM CST
(Newser) - The iconic leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who healed an 80-year rift in the church and restored its prominence in Russian society, died today, the Times of London reports. No official cause of death was given for Patriarch Alexiy, but the Kremlin’s first post-Soviet Orthodox leader had been... More »

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Russia • Vladimir Putin • Soviet Union • KGB • religion • church • Dmitry Medvedev • Roman Catholic Church • Russian Orthodox Church • Alexiy II

John, You Are Forgiven—and You Could Sing

Vatican pardons Lennon for infamous Jesus comment

Nov 22, 08 5:53 PM CST
(Newser) - The Vatican forgave John Lennon today for saying the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, Reuters reports. Calling the 1966 remark "a boast,” the Vatican's newspaper said it was made "by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success." The paper also praised the... More »

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music • Paul McCartney • Rome • Vatican • John Lennon • Beatles • Jesus Christ • Roman Catholic Church

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